X-Treme
by SilverCrystal029
Summary: Just a short, aftermath scene of Spyke leaving to join the Morlocks. The way the show does it is true to life and powerful; sometimes you just move on. People come, people go and it's not always easy. But, I always felt the team (in this case, Rogue) had more of a reaction to him choosing to leave, not just Storm. one shot


Logan stood anchored by the window, waiting for the hint of a scent. The kids bustled behind him, all busy. Kurt was teleporting in and out of the foyer, intermittently asking around the school. It had been a trying day. Ororo had returned to her room, and she hadn't left since. Not even with Scott and Logan's gentle coaxing. Evan was gone, maybe for good to protect the Morlocks. His mutation was unpredictable, and they all knew what happened next. Soon, he would remain in a boned husk.

The surface wasn't ready to deal with mutations like that. It didn't make it any easier to lose a friend and family member. Quite the contrary, they hadn't really lost anybody. Not like this. In the midst of a gloomy dinner, it appeared Rogue had slipped away. The girl often went off on her own to sort through things. She was a private, complicated teenager. But, Logan could also sense her near. On the property, sequestered to herself.

This time, his emerald green bike was gone. She'd never taken it, even though she's fully capable. He'd been pacing for hours, waiting to see her home. Waiting for an explanation. A reason why she'd put them through even more pain after Spyke's sudden departure. Departure to live below them, as a vigilante. As a potential enemy in the future. The thought of facing him makes his nerves of steel, bad.

"Uh, yes. She's about... A hundred and ten pounds, soaking wet. S-She has white bangs, pale skin... Probably wearing black. Or green. She's a mutant, s... Wait,_ hello?_" Scott hung up his phone with a huff. This was how most of his calls were going. He jumped slightly when Kurt appeared beside him, then Kitty phased through a wall in a burgundy shirt.

"Officially asked _everyone._ Nobody's seen her. I hope she hasn't gone after Spyke..." Kurt hugged himself, remembering his damp and dark new home. "He asked us not to come..." The look on Ororo's face had broken all of their hearts, and she was a strong woman. The strongest Logan's known. Scott's stare went to the ground.

"No, I don't think she's gone after him. Rogue understands space well. I think she just needed to clear her mind." Jean suggested calmly, her hand resting on Scott's shoulder. '_She wouldn't leave for good.' _

"With one of my bikes? That's like the New Recruits," He tossed a perturbed stare outside as he detected movement. "Not her." He anchored himself at the door when a knock was heard, bringing the crowd of kids around them. He opened with a fist raised, to see Rogue standing by a soldier in full military regalia. Even his face went blank as Rogue pouted, the bike on the lawn behind them.

"Is she one of yours?" The soldier drawled, his face stoic. Scott and Logan nodded, dumbly.

"She in trouble?" Logan demanded, squaring himself for a fight.

"Actually, she helped us take down a weapons smuggling ring." Jean exhaled sharply through her nose. Kitty squinted, realizing he was part of the military squad they got a detention following a couple of weeks ago. "She shouldn't have been there, but she was a great help. Mean right hook, Rogue." She only snorted, her arms folded over her chest.

"Told ya, Charlie. Figure out a payment plan and Ah'll come teach your men." He clapped a gloved hand on the teenager's shoulder and moved her inside.

"We don't _all_ hate mutants. You seem to have some good ones, here." Kitty waved at him, sheepishly.

"Oh, hey!"

"Tell this one to be careful, cause some people do. And, mean handlin' on that bike." He waved to everyone inside before doubling back to the chopper, waiting for him.

_'You want to handle this Chuck, or shall I?_' Charles was two floors up, rubbing his temples.

'_By all means, Logan...'_ He was already growling as the kids chattered amongst themselves.

"You _alvays_ do the fun stuff vithout me," Her sibling complained, staring at her oversized grey jacket and flushed skin. "_Ve'll go on an adventure, next time._ Ja, right."

"Do you know how dangerous that was? If you were kidnapped by smugglers, we'd have_ no way_ of knowing. And-" Scott waggled a finger, Jean standing at his side.

_"Out."_ Logan barked, his eyes locked with defiant grey ones. "Everyone, upstairs. I need to talk to Stripe." Kitty phased through a door and Kurt disappeared in a plume of smoke, leaving only Logan and Rogue in the foyer. She was staring past the snarl on his face, clearly a million other things on her mind besides his annoyance. And, rightfully so. "What were you_ thinkin'_? Stealing my bike to go insert yourself in things you had _no business_ inserting yourself in? Almost get killed, _right after_ Spyke goes in the sewers? How could you, you're smarter than that!"

His voice was steadily rising with every word, but she didn't look afraid. _"So,"_ She began, her voice gravelly. "Spyke can jus' take off, makin'_ life decisions_ at fifteen? Leave? But, not me?" Her hands were trembling with adrenaline, her voice short and breathy. He narrowed his eyes.

"You _wanna_ leave? This ain't a prison." The words sting to say, but he needs to make it known she's _wanted_ there. Not forced to stay, no more forced than Evan. Her gloves grip tight as she searches for more words, a million voices shouting in her head. Logan sees the fight for control, even now. Her psyches are becoming unbearable. He can feel them pulsing below the surface.

"Tired of being left." She settles for, her head beginning to pound. Silver strands fell in her face. His expression softened. She stared at her combat boots, covered in moisture and grass, _"Everyone_ knows about us. It only gets harder from here..." She wrapped her arms around a narrow waist. One that refuses to grow despite Logan making sure she eats. "Maybe, Ah could just leave."

He could tell from the look in her eye she didn't just mean Spyke. The institute is probably the most stability she's ever had in her life, and there will always be people trying to take that away. Now that they knew about them. "Not gonna lie to you, kid." Logan's voice is solemn. "It is all only gonna get harder from here. But, the Rogue _I know_ wouldn't even think about runnin' away." He tried to tip her face to look at him, but she refused.

"Don't know who Ah am, anymore." He sighed.

"I know it's difficult to take, but he was going through something. He had to make that decision for him, not for us." She wrenched away when he reached for her.

"Why does he belong down there? Because he looks different? Ah'm a_ vampire,_ Logan. Ah can't touch. Ah'm one accident away from bein' a basket-case! From bein' more dangerous than Magneto! Ah should go underground, Ah'd be doin' everyone a favor." He frowned down at the girl.

"Evan knows we would've stood by his side, until the end. But, every second would've been a fight. Not everyone can choose to go through that." Rogue shuddered, the chorus in her head becoming too loud to overcome.

"Every second already_ is_ a fight." Anxiety seeped into dark eyes. He knew the girl's mutation was unlike the others, and he already kept an eye on her. But, was she struggling more than he saw? Did she need more help?

"Rogue," He held her stare. "If you _ever_ feel, from the bottom of your heart, that you need to go. For_ you_." His eyes narrowed. "I'd help you pack. But, you don't need to leave on account of us. We choose to be by your side. Evan's path has taken him elsewhere, but who knows what the future holds." Rogue sniffed, refusing to cry in front of the man.

"What does the future hold for everyone else?" She met dark eyes. "What does it hold for you? Will _you_ ever leave?" The anguish is evident on his face. Before he got caught up in the school of mutant children, he'd loved to roam. He would never leave Charles and the children while they needed him, but he couldn't promise to sit still, forever.

"Listen, Stripe. You know I can't promise I won't ever leave." When she hung her head, he tipped her eyes up to his. "But, I _can_ promise I won't leave until you're ready. Grown, lookin' after these kids yourself. When I've taught y'all everything you need to know." He wrapped an arm carefully around her. "I'm gonna miss him too, Rogue." She wiped an eye and looked into his face. She can see that this is going to keep him up, as well. "Jean found the tape he made for his school project, let's go watch with the others." She sniffed again, looking at short, black gloves.

She turned one last look on the lawn behind them.

_Rogue and Evan crossed over the green lawn as they made their way from high school. Kurt could've teleported, and Scott drove. But, sometimes the walk was nice. It was a perfect, mid seventies day. It was one last slice of peace before the insanity of the filling school. Evan bit into an apple as Rogue plodded along, music playing lowly in her headphones. _

_"Ah wonder why nobody thinks we date?" She catches the younger mutant's stare. "Besides the obvious." He chuckled when he finished chewing. "All the New Recruits thought Kurt and Kit were dating when they just hang out all the time..." Nobody had made the same assumptions about them. 'Cause you're a power vampire, genius.' It was obvious was everyone thought about Scott and Jean._

_Evan placed his hands comfortably behind his head. "That's because... Jean and Kitty are flirts. They flirt with everybody." He half laughs as Rogue's face went red. It was true, but she didn't expect him to say it. "Remember when Scott beefed me my first week here? He wouldn't admit it, but it's because he thought Jean was flirting with me." He tossed his apple in the air as she snorted. _

_"Please, don't remind me." He took another bite and looked pensively at the cloudless sky. _

_"You're... Cool." Rogue side eyed him. "You don't... Lay it on, like that. You skateboard and watch me tag. You never lecture me, you ask me how I feel about stuff. You never try to get me to make a decision. I love everyone at home, but Scott and Jean are always trying to be my moral compass. You don't ever make me feel... Judged." By the time he finished, Rogue's mouth hung agape. _

_Evan wasn't a flatterer, it was the New York in him. That must've meant he meant everything he said. She shut her mouth and thought of a response. _

_"You don't push either, Porcupine. And, you know the value of a good silence, like Logan." He wasn't sure he'd ever heard the girl compliment anyone besides his aunt and the professor. They both knew they were jammed in a house full of typical, talkative people. "You're good company. A... Good friend." It was weird to verbalize, but Rogue had friends. For maybe the first time in her life. His smile is genuine. He's so young and care-free, Rogue hopes one day she'll be like that. _

_He tossed the apple core in the trash as they neared the steps. "You're a good friend, too. A real good one." He held the door open, remembering a time when he hadn't wanted to come to Xavier's school. How things had changed. _

"Sure." She answered, wistfully. "Let's go."


End file.
